In praise of Rustoleum

Alan Glos

Active Member
This fall I have painted several wood Sunfish items with Rust-Oleum brand white enamel and have been very impressed with the results. It is relative inexpensive when compared to true marine paint, but goes on well with a foam brush and dries to a hard, glossy finish. It seems to hold up well a marine environment. I have also used the Rust-Oleum brand flat white spray paint to paint plastic dagger boards and again the results have been impressive. Any other opinions out there pro or con?

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 
I've had very good luck with gloss white spray cans from Dupli-Color. I like the nozzle which gives a nice fan pattern.

Bill McInnis
 
I may try it on my Sunfish hull this Spring. I've been very happy with Rustoleum used elsewhere. I even used satin-black Rusteoleum on automobile door panels, vinyl seats, and scuffed sidewalls for car shows! Even then, it took many months to wear off the sidewalls. (And looked good elsewhere for years).

A tip learned from a spray-painter is to spray from "close-by" to "far-away", so that the further, drier, tiny droplets get blended with the wetter new spray, making a much smoother finish.

Partially-used Rusteoleum cans get clogged, so be prepared to use it all up on something else that needs rustproofing.

Don't spray within 50' of your car! :eek:
 
I have used Rustoleum and have had good success on topsides. However it will not hold up as a bottom side paint on anything that is moored. I believe several years ago "Practical Sailor" gave Rustoleum good reviews as a marine paint.
 
Sorting through some stored spray cans, I found a Rustoleum product, "Rustoleum-for-Plastic". An item featured on the label was one of those outdoors "resin chairs", but the label went on to describe its suitability for fiberglass.

Hmmm. Hmmm. :cool:
 
These paints although suitable for fiberglass/plastic do NOT take to constant immersion in water. They will flake and peel off if the paint is left submerged as in leaving a boat moored for any time. Had it happen several times with various brands/types of paint not listed as marine bottom paints. The paint above the water line on the bottom of the hull was fine, just a big oval where the water line was and below was gone.
 

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